An AF Christmas Carol
by Ssenkard Tnelis
Summary: Join the all too well known Commander Root (Scrooge) as he learns there is more to Christmas then just greeting cards. A mix of more things then this program can handle, so it will be general.
1. Julius Scrooge Root

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Hello!

You don't know me; heck even if you have read Zelda fiction you probably didn't read my story. Well its Sorrow of Unspoken Secrets. Love angst and Zelda? If you do it would make me happy if you simply skipped over there and checked it out. 

Of course I didn't post this just to tell you that. Oh no. Hence the title this is 'A Christmas Carol' with Artemis Fowl characters. I'm sure you have read, heard, or seen many different versions of this, as far as I'm concerned this is the only AF version.

I hope to get the last chapter up by December 24. Of course I will need your help with that by sending me reviews. If you must flame me, make it constructive. The single most thing I hate is how people flame and the only thing they say is "THIS IS CRAP" or "YOU SUCK" and then they don't even put their real names, bloody cowards they are. That's not what this web-site is for, its to help people with their writing and post stories that they want others to see. 

Sorry if it seems like I'm one of those people who rant or criticize everything, because really I'm not.

Disclaimer: I don't own really much of anything. Well I own the concept and that's about it. Characters and plot belong to Eoin Colfer and Charles Dickens. God Bless their souls!

Now without further adieu, I bring you 'A AF Christmas Carol'. Please hold all questions and chastise till the end of the chapter.

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Chapter 1: Julius (Scrooge) Root

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An angry and an extremely temperamental commander towed his way through the doors of a LEP station. Which isn't really out of the ordinary since he regularly looks like this. But considering how long until a certain day was here, you have to feel sorry for any unlucky souls who even so much as mention it.

"Merry almost Christmas commander!" Declared a recently promoted Corporal a bit too cheerfully.

None other then Commander Julius Root let out a rather loud growl that sent the young elf scurrying halfway down the hallway, only to run directly into a wall.

Root just continued to drag to his office where he ever so graciously slammed the door shut.

"Merry Christmas, D'Arvit." Mocked the commander as he slumped in his swivel chair. "Christmas is a mudman holiday, at this rate we'll all start growing tall and lose our magic!" 

He hated Christmas, just as much as he hated Valentines Day. Nothing good came out of either of the holidays. In his mind it was just Greeting Card Company Day. This was one sucker that those brainwashing cards won't entice if he had a say in it.

True Christmas was a mudman name for the holiday, but it was also the same day that the third king of the Frond dynasty, San D'Klass, was born. It was also the same day he choose to lavish the mudmen with gifts, giving him the name 'San the deluded' from his oh so loyal subjects. In little fairy stories, the ghost of San D'Klass would sneak into your house and leave gifts if you were good, and leave you mud if your were bad. 

Of course the mudmen copied Valentines Day. It wasn't descended from St. Valentine but Cupid Valentine, the famous matchmaker fairy. He didn't have the bow and arrows of love like the mudmen stereotypes, but he was very convincing with his TV ads so he never needed them. On the anniversary of his death, Valentines Day, people give cards to one another to keep his spirit of love living on.

Root lit one of his trademark fungus cigars as he pretended to be interested in some paperwork on his desk. He has always been far more into his work than necessary, but right around this time there seemed nothing else he really cared about. Along with his nickname Beetroot he has also successfully earned another nickname.

"Merry Christmas ol' Ebenezer Scrooge!" Came an all too well known voice from the doorway.

Root cringed; he didn't have time for Foaly today. He didn't have time for anything today. "D'Arvit Foaly, don't you have someone else to bother?"

"Oh yes actually I do," he said as he pulled out a piece of paper from his lap coat pocket. "Holly Short, Trouble Kelp, Grub Kelp, Councilwomen Vinyáya…" he trailed off. "But I simply come to wish good tidings,"

"Go away"

"Joyous life,"

"Did you hear me? I said Leave!"

"Happy blessings,"

"Get out of here!"

"And peace on earth!"

"D'Arvit Foaly! Get the hell out of my office!" roared Root as he rose exceedingly from his chair. Complexion as deep of purple as ever.

"No need to raise your voice Julius."

"_FOALY!_" Roots forehead was now throbbing with a severe headache, he was really not in the mood for this. Foaly could literally see the commander's veins popping out of his head.

A beeping sound interrupted the conversation as Foaly took out a pager like object from his pocket. The model was not too different from the mudman standard of a pager, but you could not only receive phone numbers but also voice and text messages, even diminutive pictures, kind of like a mini cell phone. It was of course Foaly's model.

"Sorry commander, duty calls." he said as he pocketed the pager and made a start for the door, "See you later ol' Ebenezer."

Foaly immediately left the office only to be followed by the lovely parting noise of the commanders ashtray colliding with door.

"One down, 5 to go." Foaly chuckled as he headed towards his next victim, careful to keep on schedule.

Root sat down in his swivel chair and began to write a note to himself, of course it was no easy task as his blood pressure increased by the second.

__

'Note to shelf: rock foalies day. NO! Grr… scribble that out. Goat to self. AH! Note! Note to self: DOCK Foaly's hay. PAY! PAY! GOCK FOALYS GAY! GAHHH!'

The commander crumbled the note with frustration. To many words and mistakes to be even slightly legible. He decided to make a mental note, he figured it would give him less stress.

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Trouble Kelp stood up straight and brushed out all the wrinkles in his outfit. He had one chance at asking for the next couple of days off. One flaw, just one, and he was sure to not only be denied of his holiday, but also get demoted to the best job of all. Traffic duty.

He knocked imposingly but lightly on the door trying to hide his slight nervous unease. He wasn't going to let Root get to him. He needed this break more than anyone did. Well, Foaly needed a vacation; he practically lives in his office. As so did Captain Short, of course asking her to take a furlough was like asking a troll would it like some salad with its meat; it just won't take it.

"Come in."

'Here's my shot,' thought Trouble. 'Okay, here I go.' He opened the door and stepped into the office.

"Yes captain?"

"Sir, you know how that Christmas is almost here,"

Roots complexion began turn red. He knew exactly what Trouble came to ask him.

"I was just wondering…hoping…that I could possibly have Christmas day off. It's just that, I don't spend enough time with Grub, or my mother for that matter. And I want to make it up to them."

"In that case, of course you can have Christmas off."

Trouble would have smiled; in fact if you paid enough attention to his facial expressions you could see that he did, but only for a spilt second. It seemed all too easy. Root hated Christmas, he would be damned before he actually gave someone leave for the holidays. 

"And then I'll just give everyone else off too. We can throw a party, with lots of confetti, and lights, oh and don't forget lots and _lots_ music! Oh, then I will just release the prisoners from their cells while I'm at it. They deserve to take Christmas off to, go see their families, eat lots of good food, and steal some gifts for the kids… Christmas is a day that everyone should get off. You know what? I think I will take it off too!"

Trouble paled, this wasn't going to end well.

"But do you know why I don't take Christmas off?"

Trouble risked a shake of his head.

"Well let me tell you then…"

Root narrowed his eyes into slits, voice becoming low and commanding. Time to do what he did best.

"_You of all people should know better then to come in here and ask for leave! I should have your strips for so much as thinking about coming in here! I DON'T JUST HAND OUT VACATIONS ON A SILVER PLATTER TO ANYONE I PLEASE, WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS A CHARITY?"_

Everyone knows commanders can smell fear a mile away. Or so they say. Right now that's the last thing Trouble wanted. Of course it was perfectly noticeable that he was quite immobilized in his position. Face white and quite blank.

"_I don't take leave because I know that everything happens when an officer least expects it! The last thing this city needs is for there to be a mudman or troll crisis and all of our bloody officers are out taking vacations!"_

"But Sir-"

"_Don't 'but sir' me captain!_"

"Commander, everyone not on your shift takes Christmas off, even if it's only for 8 hours. Heck, even the councilmen take it off. I just don't see what the big deal is."

"_NO_ captain! You _WOULDN'T_ see what the big deal is! I'm _NOT_ giving anyone leave and that's final!"

Root began to read a file put on his desk, signaling the end of their discussion. Trouble wouldn't have any of it.

"Sir please have some dignity. Most of us have families to take care of, this is the one time of the year we can get together and be happy for a change. Sir, I'm not sure about you but my family means more to me than anything."

"Captain you are cutting it really close…"

"Commander, please be reasonable."

"If I give you a break, everyone else will want one."

"Then give it to them."

"_WHAT!?_"

"Please sir."

"The answer is no and that's final! Now get out of my office or I'll have you'll be put on traffic duty for the next millenium!"

Trouble left quickly, taking head to slam the door shut on his way out, knocking down one of Roots picture frames hanging on the wall inside. 

Trying to vent his anger out on something he quickly decided the wall was perfectly suitable and began pounding it with his enraged fists.

"Captain?"

Trouble looked to see that Holly was next to him.

"Is something wrong?"

He closed his eyes solemnly. "Sometimes I feel…no I don't feel, I know…the commanders heart is as cold as ice itself."

Holly sighed. Understanding what had happened. "It's okay, I tried asking for leave just the other day. Of course by the sound of it you got the worse half of the yelling."

Trouble remained silent.

"Don't worry about what Scrooge says. Come on, let's get some coffee before our break is over."

Oblivious to Holly's rare kinder side, Trouble agreed and followed her to the officer's lounge.

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Root put the papers on his desk in an orderly fashion, it was most uncommon of him to do so, but with his recent argument with one of his most prized officers he needed something to distract him from the matter at hand.

A loud banging on the hallway wall immediately interrupted him. It was no doubt Captain Kelp, since most of the officers in the station were far wiser than to bang on the wall right outside his office door.

He was about to go out there and order him to shut up until he heard another sound.

"Captain?"

Short was out there talking to him. He didn't know why but something stopped him from barging out the door. It could have been his conscience, or it was the fact they were talking about him.

"Sometimes I feel…no I don't feel, I know…the commanders heart is as cold as ice itself." His Captain Kelp's voice, flowing into the room as he quietly opened the door, just wide enough to get better reception.

"It's okay, I tried asking for leave just the other day. Of course by the sound of it you got the worse half of the yelling." Root just then remembered that Holly did surprisingly ask for leave. He guessed that even Short had family to spend time with. 

"Don't worry about what Scrooge says. Come on, let's get some coffee before our break is over."

Commander closed the door to their fading footsteps. He picked up the picture frame that fell to the floor when Trouble knocked it off the wall. It was of him and his old friend Briar Cudgeon. That is, before he got killed.

Is this what he had become since then? A demeaning, self-centered, boss who cared nothing of their well being and only cared for his work?

Root shrugged. He seemed to fit that description, and he was okay with that. He didn't need his officers to think highly of him. If they planned to do something he could just have them fired.

He sat down on his swivel chair, he put the frame on his desk then returned to his paperwork.

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Well what did you think? All you have to do is press that purple button at the bottom of the screen that says 'submit review'. Yes, that button. I don't care what your comment is! Big, little, medium, a flame, whatever floats your boat. Just review! *Looks at you with big expecting eyes* 

The only thing I don't want you to ask about is pairings, (Just read to find out, I don't like giving away any plot) or have non-constructive flames. 

PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. The arrival of an old friend

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Hi! It's me. Well duh, of course it's me, who else could get into my account and type this story for me? HACKERS that's who! But hacking into my computer is a complete waste of time, there is nothing in here but the things I type…and other crap like stuff.

Thanks to all you who reviewed my last chapter, I'm very happy you liked it! I mean VERY happy. I was all smiling and cheerful when I saw people actually read my story then reviewed! To make things even better, some put it on their favorite stories list. (That's what made me jump for joy!) 

To my reviewer Alex: I'm sorry if I made Root seem happy and out of character. "And then I'll just give everyone else off too. We can throw a party, with lots of confetti, and lights, oh and don't forget lots and _lots_ music! Oh, then I will just release the prisoners from their cells while I'm at it. They deserve to take Christmas off to, go see their families, eat lots of good food, and steal some gifts for the kids… Christmas is a day that everyone should get off. You know what? I think I will take it off too!" **If you thought that by that paragraph, well that paragraph was supposed to be said with sarcasm. Just wanted to clear that up, if he did seem too happy, then that is my doing and I am deeply sorry.**

To the rest of my reviewers: Thanks for reviewing, It really warmed my heart to see all those reviews in my inbox. The reviews my other story never got. ;-; .My poor, poor, poor misunderstood story. Must be the summary, I really stink at writing summaries. Well I think that's all I have to say on this topic…at the moment. Oh and are dear Arty will be in this.

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! If I did I wouldn't be typing this story; I would be swimming in my pool full of pudding. Mmmmm pudding…

Remember to review when your done reading, and no flames unless they are constructive, Or they shall forever remain DELETED!

Now without further adieu, I bring you A AF Christmas Carol Chapter 2. Please hold all questions and chastise till the end of the chapter.

Chapter 2: The arrival of an old friend

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Commander Root left the station. Coat wrapped closely around his body in order to keep in the warm and shield out the cold air around him. He was trying to forget that his cousin asked him to go over to his house for Christmas dinner. Root said that he would see him -- yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. 

Winter was one of the worst times of the year for the people. Sure they lived close to the Earth's core, but every year for three months, the lava doesn't give off as much heat as usual, quite a bit less actually. You know as well as I do, the fairies can't stand the cold.

'Just another reason for me to hate Christmas.' Thought Root as he made his way to his town house. It was pretty small even by town house standards, there were apartments bigger than it was, but who was Root to complain. He had no friends and not enough family to care about, or too much family to care about, (he never could remember which it was) so why should he care if he had an extremely small house and left it a mess all the time.

He reached into his pocket to pull out his house chip. After many years of complaining about how easily keys are broken, lost, stolen, and copied, the council finally gave into the peoples demands and had Foaly make a better replacement. 

The V89.5 chip was no bigger than an American dime. You simply had it placed under your skin in the palm of your hand, put your hand under the scanner in the door, and turn the knob. Root didn't like the idea of something being stuck permanently under his skin so he simply had his modified into a key chain.

When he put his chip under the scanner he saw something. His garden gnome looked like his old friend Briar Cudgeon. Albeit Cudgeon didn't have a beard and pointy red hat. 

Root blinked. That couldn't be right. When he tried looking at it more closely it turned back to its original form, evil looking and fat. 

'You work to hard Julius, look your hallucinating!'

"Shut up brain! I am _not_ working too hard."

'Sure you are, look your talking to yourself.'

Root growled as he stepped into his house, not exactly in the right state of mind to have an argument with himself.

He walked into his living room and collapsed in his moss green armchair. 'Another day another night.' he thought 'Tomorrow there is more work to be done.' He just hoped the evening goes by rather quickly. His wish was not going to come true.

There was a light thud in the bathroom, like someone had landed on the floor. Root distinguished it as nothing and went to the kitchen to make dinner. Not to long after his evening sandwich was prepared there was another thud from the bathroom. Sounded like something heavy and marble.

Not wanting to eat his sandwich in a house with intruders, Root carefully covered every inch of ground in his home, starting with the kitchen. There weren't many cabinets or shelves in Roots kitchen; not that he needed them for the only thing he had were loaves of bread on the counter. Coffee beans in the freezer, piles of salami, tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce in the refrigerator. All for making sandwiches of course. In one of the only cabinets he had was one bottle of medicine for Roots blood pressure. Magic couldn't keep blood from pumping into his heart. The label had said 500 pills; he was down to about 12.

Root decided now was a good time for one of those pills. The doctor said only to swallow when absolutely necessary. Ph, who needs doctors to tell them what to do, that's what attorneys are for. He took these pills when he was either hungry, tired, stressed out, or bored, and nothing ever happened to him! Sure he blacked out a few times, 76 times to be exact, but no harm ever came from blackouts. Except 12 of those times he had to go to the hospital from over dose…

Another thud, this time from the hallway. Now was a good time to take his sandwich and go to bed.

Root got changed and headed to his bed, his half-eaten sandwich still in hand. Not forgetting to put locks on his door. For the first time in a long time, Root was really nervous. Of course there was the Fowl cases, but those happened so long ago, or so it seemed.

__

"Julius." A faint voice sounded from the hallway. It was groggy and shallow. It kind of reminded Root of someone though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

'"_Julius." _The same voice only louder this time. It sounded as if it was headed his way…

__

"Julius!" Root was far beyond freaked out. He ran over to his bedroom door and put more locks on it then he had fingers on both his of his hands. While he was at it, he grabbed his trusty triple-barreled blaster. 

"Ok I think now is a great time to take some of those pills." Said Root harnessing his gun. 

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"JULIUS D'ARVIT OPEN THE FROND DAMN DOOR!"

"Cudgeon? No it can't be, your dead."

"_Got something against dead people coming into your house at night?"_

"Actually yes, yes I do."

"_Gr…_"

"And besides if you're dead, couldn't you just walk through the door?"

"_…Never thought of that, well won't help your sink now."_

"What about my sink?"

"_Uh, nothing…nothing is wrong with your bathroom sink._"

Root backed away from the door slowly. Was he imagining this? Or was he really talking to Briar Cudgeon? He was probably just asleep. It was times like these that Root really wanted those pills.

Suddenly a shadowed cast hand crept through the door, followed by a ghostly body. Root paled immediately at the sight of his dead ex-friend. It wasn't the fact he was a ghost, it was what he looked like. Cudgeon was in a grayish white robe, with shackles on his hands and feet and chains all over his body. Quite frankly, Cudgeon looked exhausted.

"What do you want here Cudgeon?"

"_I've come to warn you Julius-"_

"Don't call me Julius! I don't care if you're dead, you backstabbed me. That took away all your Julius privileges."

"_Can't we just forget about what happened for one second so I can warn you about something?"_

"Depends."

__

"Depends on what?"

"If the warning is big or small."

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"It's big so I would advise you to pay attention."

Grumbling, Root sat on his bed and faced Cudgeon. He took a bite of his sandwich.

"_Listen, I don't like you, and you don't like me."_

"Then why are you here?"

Cudgeon looked like he was on the braking point, but tried to regain his composure as he said, _"How about I just show you?"_ He walked over to Roots window, casting meaningful glances out it.

Root got off his bed, dropping his sandwich he went over to the windowsill he looked out of it. He gaped in astonishment at what he saw.

__

"Julius, this less time I spend with you the better. Really I would much rather not have warned you, but seeing you at work…It made me look like a better commander. Well, before I tried to take over."

Snapping back out of his state, he asked, "You see me at work?"

__

"I do Julius, only now can you see me. Retching your horrid anger on your co-workers, not spending any time with your family or friends. You spent most of your life in the office doing work. Outside of your job, you haven't done a decent thing for anyone."

Ignoring the Julius, Root was about to reply, but he didn't have a single retort. There may have been a time when he was a child that he did some good, but lets face the facts. Cudgeon was right.

__

"Do you want to be like them?" asked Cudgeon, pointing out the window.

Root looked back outside at the wandering spirits. Fairy ghost's young and old were floating above Haven. Some with more, some with less chains then Cudgeon was burdened with. Each moaning and trying to alleviate the heavy chains, one was reaching down towards an elf mother caressing her baby whom he could no longer help, but had the chance when he was alive.

__

"We are not aloud to leave until we have wandered the earth, watching in misery at what has become of the mudmen. Everyone must at least once before they die, be nice and do good deeds to another fairy. If they don't, they will be just like us. This is your fate Julius, or it would be."

"What do you mean by 'or it would be'?"

__

"You will be visited by three spirits, each at one o'clock starting tonight. They can help you."

"Great more dead people in my house."

__

"Julius pay attention this is important!"

"I don't need dead people helping me, I can do that by myself! And what did I tell you about calling me Julius?"

A shrewd chime sound was heard in the distance.

__

"I must go now, here is my parting note: The spirits can help you, listen to them. I hope to see you again before your time is up Julius." With that he went out the window, seeming to glide over all the buildings and around the icy stalactites.

"Don't call me Julius!" Root yelled out his window towards the now fading away form of Cudgeon.

"_GO TO BED! IT'S MIDNIGHT FOR FRONDS SAKE, YOU'LL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ME NOT CALLING YOU SOMETHING ELSE IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP!_" Called one of Roots neighbors. He was used to Roots temper, but he had to draw the line somewhere, and yelling in the middle of the night was where that line was.

Fussing something about neighbors always being in his business, Root returned to bed. Amazingly he went right to sleep. Obviously not caring that he was asleep on top of his sandwich.

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So what did you think? Review and tell me, just remember NO NON- CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES!

Please don't ask me about the garden gnome. I decided that fairies are aloud to have garden gnomes, besides the real gnomes might feel honored. Well, they probably wouldn't but that's not my problem.

As for the pills? Don't ask about those either, fairies are also aloud to take pills in my story. Why? Because if some fairies are like Root they probably need it.

I don't own the line: He said that he would see him -- yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. **That belongs to Charles Dickens. I loved that line so much from the book I had to put it in here. **

Well that is all, sorry if I'm making Root a bit… OOC, I'll try harder to make him more Root like in the next chapter.

Au Revoir! Please read my next chapter! 

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	3. Spirit Numeral Uno

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Bonjour!

Time for another chapter to be added. Really, I am having serious doubt that I can put up the last chapter by December 24th; encouragement is the only thing I really need right now. 

Well I decided to answer my reviewers for chapter 2, because…I feel like it.

Kelsey: Why so many questions? I can't answer any because it will ruin the plot. It is supposed to be funny. At first I wanted it to be serious, but when I saw how many people thought it was funny I decided to make/keep it humor. Though it will get a tad angsty (is that even a word?). I am not saying what that pairing is. If there is a pairing. P.S. Out of all the pairings I can stand, H/T is one of them. ^_^

The CheezHead: I'm happy to hear you like it, please keep reviewing!

Alex: Oops, my bad. I should pay attention more when people talk to me; well its good news Root wasn't OOC. Well, he might get a bit OOC later, but I promise he won't be all Sunshine and flowers at the end.

TazMoon: Thanks, I'm updating in my version of quickly. (Which means we could be waiting until February for the last chapter). 

Spasmodic dust bunny: I feel exceptionally proud of that line, I think its because it was one of the only lines I didn't edit. Same as above, I'm updating as fast as I can.

Sara: …_*Insert comment here*_

Black-knight-1988: I looked up your story; it's pretty good, could be longer but good, should have reviewed it. ^_^; Well I enjoyed the constructive criticism. Now to answer some questions, he was insane when he planned the take-over, but the point being he still did it. The reasons he warned Root were: 

1) He doesn't want to spend any more time around there, doing that nice deed could help him move on. 

2) I think, in one way or another, he still considers Root a friend.

3) …I can't think of a third reason, so the first two better be good enough.

You know the drill, read then review. No flames unless they are constructive or they will be deleted.

Disclaimer: Is this really necessary each and every time I add a chapter? It's quite obvious that I don't own squat. All belongs to Eion Colfer and Charles Dickens. 

Now without further adieu, I bring you A AF Christmas Carol Chapter 3. Please hold all questions and chastise till the end of the chapter. 

Chapter 3: Spirit Numeral Uno

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Root was sleeping on his bed; blankets pulled over his head and feet resting on his pillow. He woke up a bit groggily as if he heard someone in his room, of course it's kind of hard to tell when you have a blanket over your head. He established it as nothing and went back to sleep. 

Right when he was about to fall back to sleep something pulled the blankets off the bed.

"Hi commander!" 

"Lily Frond!" groaned Root. Indeed there was Lily Frond standing just a few feet away from him. She had blond hair, makeup, and a fairy-god-mothery type dress to top it all off.

"What the D'Arvit are you doing in my house?"

"I am, like, the Ghost of Christmas Past. I have taken on this form because, like, I am beautiful!"

"I thought it was because you are cheery all the time and gener-…cheery "

"Uhh no. All the other ghosts are just there to make me look good." She said, pushing a lock of hair behind her almost perfectly pointed ear.

"So the only reason you're here is to further your own career."

"Duh."

"Oh…"

"But, like, I am also supposed to show you stuff from, like, the past. Well… something like that. It's not really my job to know this kind of thing; I just have to show up and voila! Paycheck in the mailbox. "

"What do you mean it's not your job? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE D'ARVTING GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST! "

"Ok. Sheesh, I can see we didn't come ten years ago…"

"You were supposed to _WHAT!?"_

Lily walked over to the window, laughing a bit uneasily she opened the shutters, "Heheh, umm, I think we should go now." And with that she leapt out.

Root walked over to it and looked out, Lily was flying up in the air. "Do I look like a sprite to you?" he asked.

"Heck no! You're so not cute enough to be one."

"Grr…"

"Come on I don't got all night. Just jump!"

"…I can't…"

"Do I have to explain it to you? First get on that windowsill; push off with your legs, or whatever, I mean ever heard of a diet? Come on, I'm surprised you can walk…"

"No it's not that. I'm just…a little afraid of heights."

"You're kidding right? Oh dear Frond. How the heck do you go on above ground missions then?"

"I put my visor on reflect so I never had to look at the ground." Root stated a bit little sheepishly, not quite noticeable. "Well it looks like we'll have to wait another ten or so years until I conquer my fear of flying. Good evening." He added while walking back over to his bed. 

"Oh no you don't! My salary is at stake here." And with that she darted back into the room, grabbed Root by the arm, and flew back out the window.

"Just don't look down…just don't look down…" He mumbled to himself, ignoring the fact that once again he was talking to himself.

"Hey Root, recognize this place?"

"No, and frankly I don't think I want to."

"Look, just glance down for one second."

Root risked stealing a glance downward, what he saw amazed him. And against his better judgement, smile a bit.

"T-This is my home! Years ago, that's Cudgeon's house, that's Charlotte Vinyáya's house, and there's the orphanage that I grew up at!"

"What do you mean you grew up at the orphanage? Didn't you have a family?"

This is where his face took on its more emotionless complexion and paled a bit. "I used to…"

Leaving Lily behind to ponder on that statement a bit, he flew down to the orphanage; there he saw his younger form enveloped in books while all the other little fairies played outside. Root's younger self had a little less extra weight on him as he observed, looking down at his gut. His younger self also was in a little better shape.

"Who is that kid over there reading? Shouldn't he be celebrating Christmas with his friends?"

Root cast his eyes in downcast, "He had no friends…"

There was a knock at the door, when no one replied, a little girl no more than five entered. She had long red hair, and emerald green eyes that looked as though they could light up the dark room.

"Julius. Julius where are you?"

The boy perked up at the sound of his name; "I'm over here Claudia."

"Oh, you're such a book worm. I couldn't see you over all those books." She giggled softly. "Come on Julius! Daddy says you can come home for Christmas. We can be a family for the night. Like we used to be…"

"We still are Claudia," he said clasping her hand in his, "I promise, nothing can come between this family. We will always be together."

She was smiling now, "Thanks big brother."

The boy was smiling too. Root was remembering that day now, he tried locking it away but it still leaked out at times.

"If only Claudia could see you now," sighed Lily, "Telling her son you would go to hell before seeing him for Christmas dinner. She would be furious."

It was true, he often forgot that his nephew was his sister's son. He now wished he could see his nephew again, just to get a picture of Claudia in his mind. Lily just had to ruin it.

"Can we hurry up please, we have so much to see and so little time to do it in!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him out another window.

They flew faster and faster, Root thought he was going to throw up. He was never fond of Roller Coasters, or flying. Put the two together and you got the ultimate torture device, if Foaly ever heard that then he would have good blackmail.

Suddenly they stopped, almost as soon as they started. Root had successfully added a new color to his name, that color was a horrible shade of green.

"Oh stop belly aching and open your eyes." Lily said, checking her recently manicured nails for dirt. 

"If it's all the same to you, I would prefer to keep them as tightly shut as possible."

Groaning, she kicked until he flipped over on his stomach and opened his eyes.

"Owe! My Spleen!"

"Will you _please _stop complaining for _one second _and look around? _Please!_"

"No."

She kicked him again.

"Ok I'll do it," he mumbled, "doesn't mean I'll like it…"

Root in fact didn't like it, it was one of the memories he had held in dread for many a year, and he was re-living it.

"I don't think we can do this anymore, so much as happened…"

Two people were sitting in a small gazebo surrounded by small trees and shrubs. It was an underground park. When the mudmen began oil drilling they had to close almost every single one of them. The last one is in Atlantis and anyone who wants entrance has to pay to get in.

"Nothing has happened, works been the same, family life has been the same, I have-"

"Changed!" the woman snapped, "I don't even know who you are anymore. You used to be kind, generous, and sentimental. Now…now, I don't think your own mother would recognize you."

"I have just been busy. I care-"

"About yourself, you only care about yourself. As long as you advance in your career you could care less about the wellbeing of anybody else…You used to say you cared about me, not anymore. I am not just some old book that you can look at once then shove it into a dark corner of your room and expect everything to stay the way it always has been! I have a life to, you just can't see that…" With that the woman got off the bench and walked out of the gazebo.

"I am not certain if you feel any pain now from this now, I know I am. If you are feeling something, I know that you will reject it almost as soon as it had appeared. Please hold true to hope in the future, I wish not to ever deal with you again." 

The young man did nothing to stop her as she walked out of his life forever. Not even a simple goodbye.

Root held his ghost like hand out in front of him, not believing this was actually happening. "Charlotte…" he called quietly to the now drifting away woman, though he knew well she couldn't hear him.

The young man was still sitting on the bench looked at the calendar hanging meaninglessly on the Corinthian style pillar. It was December 24, Christmas Eve.

"And he never called her, never wrote, never did anything to try to make it up with the so-called 'love' of his life." uttered Lily to no one in particular.

The young man dug into his pocket and pulled out a small square shaped box. He never even had a chance. He stood up from the bench and asked the woman, his voice barely over a whisper, before she was completely out of his view, "Will you marry me?" 

He then turned his back on her and left in the opposite direction.

"It's so sad," Lily said blinking away an almost run-away tear "But why would you care?" she quickly snapped. "It's not like you were going to marry her out of love was it? Or did you just simply get bored of her and decided better against asking?"

Root remained silent. He thought he loved her, once upon a time he did. A part of him still cared, a small part, it still cared.

"Ghost, show me no more! I wish not to live this again. Take me home!"

Lily shook her head, "We have one more place to visit, then you can go back to, like, your old boring way of life." This time instead of flying, she simply snapped her fingers and they left.

They entered a room filled with light, or so it seemed to Root. One reason could be he had his eyes closed so he could brace for the flight.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing they had not flown any distance he asked Lily, "Why couldn't we have done that, oh I don't know, _IN THE BEGINNING_?"

"Shhh…" she hissed at him. She had grown weary of his repeated shouting and complaints.

"What is-" he tried asking before Lily, ever so graciously, clamped her hand over his mouth.

Resisting the urge to bite her hand, he saw why she wanted to him to be quiet. They were standing in front of a house; two people were talking inside and were barely legible. It was obviously not too long ago as the people looked about the same as he saw them just a few days ago. 

The woman from before was sitting on a couch with another man, watching the fire in the fireplace spark and crackle.

"You know who I saw today?" asked a man by the name of Tony Cahartez.

"No," she gave it a second thought and realized who it was. "Oh, you saw old Scrooge?"

Laughing he replied, "Yep, I saw Root. I had a notion about going into his office to give a Christmas blessing, but seeing how hard he was working I thought better of it."

With a sigh she said, "Yes, he always was one to work hard…" She was plainly still hurting over what happened many a decade ago; but she was tough and would not admit it.

"Charlotte? Is something wrong?" Carhartez asked.

She gave another sigh, "I will be fine."

He looked very unconvinced but accepted her answer. "Just as long as you are alright."

Then he did something that appalled Root. He kissed her. Vinyáya hesitated, not sure if she really wanted to be kissed, but anything was better then thinking about her past.

Root looked at the snow on the ground, glistening in the afternoon sun. It was so beautiful and delicate, like a simple feather on it could disturb its peace and solitude. He kicked it.

"Just because she picked Carhartez over you doesn't mean you can take it all out on the snow." Lily said.

"Take me home." Root angrily said through clenched teeth. "Take me home NOW!" Tightening his eyes, he braced for impact.

Opening his eyes for the umpteenth time that night, he found himself back in his room. As if nothing had happened.

________________________________________________________________________

****

Angst…*Drools* That is my favorite thing to write, glad I added in some.

How do you like my Root/Vin and Vin/Car pairing? I think the R/V is better, but that is my opinion. And my opinion doesn't matter because I don't want it, I want YOUR opinion.

Just press the magical purple button and I will be happy. Go on, you know you want to…

Au Revoir! Please read my next chapter! 


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